The Pregnancy & Parenting Center in Ohio recently opened a second location in the Canton area to reach potential new clients and better help those already served by the pregnancy help center.
“We thought it was important to go where our clients live and where they frequent,” said Kayla Atchison, CEO of Pregnancy Support Network, of which The Pregnancy & Parenting Center is a part.
Formerly known as Pregnancy Choices, The pregnancy & Parenting Center serves the town of Akron and Tuscarawas County. It, along with Akron Pregnancy Services, Eva Women’s Clinic, in Canton and Akron, and the Hope and Healing Center in Canton, makes up the area’s Pregnancy Support Network.
The two Canton locations allow staff and volunteers to better serve intended clients.
The original location is in an affluent area, in a Cul de sac with no bus service, making it difficult for women with small children and other clients to access it.
“We now have the possibility of increasing our numbers [with the new location],” said Paula Mastroianni, executive director of The Pregnancy & Parenting Center, “serving more women.”
“We see clients one-on-one and we have some advocacy appointments,” Atchison told Pregnancy Help News. “We’re also able to offer group classes at a different time than we currently have them [at the first location], with greater availability for our clients. And so that [new] location allows us to do that better.”
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A boutique for pregnant women to obtain needed materials is also available at the second location, she added.
The new location is close to a university and to a bus stop and is therefore more helpful “for those in need of our services,” Atchison said. It is also near to Planned Parenthood, though that facility doesn’t do abortions, Mastroianni said. The abortion facility in Akron does perform surgical and chemical abortions, she said.
In addition to this new second location in Canton, The Pregnancy & Parenting Center sends a mobile unit to another county, to communities within 45 to 60 minutes away, Atchison said. The mobile unit began providing services last year.
“She’s big and pink, and we call her Nancy,” Mastroianni told Pregnancy Help News.
The unit parks near an abortion center, allowing for a smoother transition from ending an unborn life to saving it.
“We can get them [women] literally from the parking lot or from the line of an abortion mill to getting them to see the life that’s growing within them,” Atchison said, “allowing them to envision a life for themselves and their child and then get them directly connected to our client services, all in that location,”
More than 50 employees staff the four locations and the mobile unit, 20 of whom are medical professionals, including a family nurse practitioner.
“We are both a clinical and a client-focused ministry,” Atchison said.
The organization first opened its doors as a pro-life pregnancy center ministry in 1985 and after 2020 expanded to the various locations. Another kind of expansion is in the works: becoming part of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network® (APRN).
“We are looking to be able to prescribe the progesterone at the time of the intervention and be able to wrap our arms around these women in that time of need,” Atchison said. “This has been something that’s been on our hearts for a while, and we want to make sure we provide a full service for women who are looking for a second chance for the life of their child.”
An open house, dedication, and ribbon cutting for the second Canton location took place mid-August. Classes for clients are held at the new location, including cooking, parenting, financial literacy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. A men’s mentoring program is also being offered.
Helping women to have healthy babies is a strong priority for The Pregnancy & Parenting Center. Ohio has a high infant mortality rate, Atchison said, so her organization has partnered with the county health department to host a variety of workshops, such as safe sleep, healthy pregnancy, and nutrition.
“We want women to be healthy and have healthy babies,” Atchison said.
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Last year, more than 2,000 people walked through the doors of the Canton and Akron location and more than 700 babies “were born because of the efforts of our ministry,” she said. Additionally, more than 4,000 students learned about healthy lifestyles.
“That’s all really exciting!” Atchison said.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Aboriton Pill Reversal.
